


Night Terrors

by azure112



Series: BBS oneshots [9]
Category: Banana Bus Squad, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Comfort, Drabble, Fluff, Other, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:40:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29959710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azure112/pseuds/azure112
Summary: There's something that keeps Tyler up at night, but he isn't sure what it is. It comes to him as a hollow aching in his chest, and lingers for hours on end.At least this time, he's got a friend.
Relationships: Anthony | BigJigglyPanda/Tyler | I AM WILDCAT
Series: BBS oneshots [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2062383
Kudos: 5





	Night Terrors

Sometimes, at night, there comes an aching in your chest. A feeling of anxiety brought about by something left unspoken. Tyler liked to call it 'despair'. A lingering sensation that would pain him in the hours approaching sleep.

Sometimes, it would keep him up all night, eyes wide, mouth agape. The monsters in his mind often came crawling out at night, and he'd wait patiently for them to go away. Other times, after a long day, he'd fall asleep, and his troubling thoughts would haunt his dreams instead. There was no escaping the pain. Despair would always find a way to creep into his conscience, and it often left him debilitated for hours on end. The strange sensations would hollow out his chest and leave him feeling numb.

During the day, it was more bearable; he often surrounded himself with friends and those he chose to care about. Even with people he didn't quite like, there was nothing a few harsh words and cleverly crafted insults couldn't fend off. Whatever it was that was haunting his mind would need guts of steel to try and stop him in the midst of pissing off the terroriser, or yelling incessantly at the likes of Nogla. Ironically enough, it was the people who drove him up a wall that were keeping him sane.

So, where were they now?

At this time of night, everyone was probably asleep. They all lived in similar time zones, and he didn't want to risk waking anyone else up at such a dire time. No one _should_ have been awake at any time even close to 3am, but he was literal proof that that wasn't necessarily the case. No one had a stable sleep schedule, so who was he to rule out the possibility that someone might have been up to keep him company?

Tyler hadn't a clue what was up with him tonight. Normally, he would opt to wait out the terrors in silence. It had been that way for as long as he could remember, and he hadn't ever considered seeking out company. So what was different? What had changed?

The answer was at the tip of his tongue, and it was driving him insane. He sat up abruptly, and quickly blinked away the spots that appeared in his vision. His mind was racing, his throat was dry. Rather than dwelling on whatever the heck was wrong with him, he opted to get up and get something to quench his thirst. The kitchen was only a short walk away.

From the moment he stepped out, something felt off. He could hear faint sounds down the hall. Was it an intruder? It sure didn't sound like one.

Forgetting about the water, he followed the sound instead; probably not the best idea, if he _was_ getting robbed, but he felt secure enough about the nature of the sound itself to feel drawn towards its source. As he drew nearer, the music became startlingly recognisable; undoubtedly, it was the theme tune to one of the pokemon games, though he failed to recollect which one.

It was coming from the guest room. That was right. Anthony had come over for the weekend. Was that the reason he was feeling so ill at ease?

Without quite thinking, he slowly opened the door, trying not to make enough noise to be noticed. Anthony was seated on the bed, facing away from him now, a bright light illuminating a few of his features. He seemed to be on the switch, playing a pokemon game whose name was starting to bug Tyler. Maybe, just maybe, if he thought hard enough, it would come back to him.

Maybe.

He wasn't sure how long he had been standing there, eerily staring at his friend, until Anthony had called out to him in surprise.

"Tyler? What are you doing up so late at night?"

A pause. The air stilled suddenly, and Tyler could feel his heart starting to pound against his chest. He felt embarrassed, having been caught staring, but tried to stand his ground nonetheless. "I could say the same to you- W-why haven't you slept yet?" A stutter? Now was really not the time.

Anthony chuckled, lifting up to reveal his screen. It looked to be a fairly retro game. "I was playing pokemon. Now, what reason do you have to be at my door, staring at me from a distance?"

Tyler fumbled for an excuse. "I thought I heard something… So I came to check…"

"Ah, right. I'm sorry for disturbing." Anthony spoke almost sheepishly, and there was something about his tone that pained Tyler's heart. Maybe it was the way he tried to take responsibility for a fault that was not his own, but was instead Tyler's.

"No, no. You didn't disturb me… I disturbed myself, really…" he said without thinking, quickly earning Anthony's questioning glance. He wasn't sure how he had let that slip, but he had been in a more social mood that night. After considering who might have been up to keep him company, he had actually found someone. So, what now?

"Is it something you want to talk about?" Anthony asked. Tyler didn't respond. "Okay, then… C'mere."

Tyler listened. Quietly, he approached his friend, and sat down at the foot of his bed. He took note of how the covers appeared to sink underneath his weight. Anthony turned off the game, and Tyler hoped underneath his breath that he hadn't forgotten to save. He knew, better than most, the absolute devastation of losing all your progress in a game you thought you liked.

Interrupting his thoughts was a feeling of warmth; Tyler sank into Anthony's side as the elder wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close. "What's bothering you?"

A pause. "I don't know, honestly…" he admitted sheepishly, bracing himself for a look of judgement. Instead, Anthony simply rubbed his arm in a reassuring manner, telling him silently that everything was alright. Tyler relished the comforting feeling. It was a lot nicer than lying awake in bed, unable to help himself in any way.

"I'm here for you, alright? If you need anything at all, let me know." Anthony spoke gently, the younger nodding absentmindedly in response. They sat together like that for a moment, with Anthony embracing Tyler in a half hug, trying not to envelop him completely with his warmth. Tyler leaned into his friend, silent, enjoying the comforting feeling. The monsters keeping him awake, they hadn't followed him in here. They wouldn't have dared.

"Thanks…" he whispered, finally realising the weight of his own fatigue. For the first time in what felt like months, he finally felt safe enough to let down his guard. So he did, burying his face into Anthony's shoulder in a tired, sluggish manner, lazily trying to fight off the tiredness that had overcome him. When he felt fingers in his hair, stroking gently along the strands, he gave up, having no incentive to stay awake any longer.

Anthony smiled at his friend, letting out a deep and heavy sigh of his own, quietly holding back a yawn. "Anytime…" he whispered in response, knowing all too well that the man on his shoulder was no longer listening.


End file.
